If you invest in a savings account, you’ll make less than 1% and will have to pay income tax on the earnings. If, on the other hand, you contribute something extra to your house payment on a regular basis you’ll essentially earn at the mortgage interest rate which is bound to be more than you’re earning in the bank.

Making additional principal contributions on your mortgage will save interest, retire debt and build equity. An extra $100 a month in the example shown will save thousands in interest and short the term of the mortgage as well. Reducing your cost of housing is another way to improve the investment in your home. Becoming debt-free is a important goal that is achieved with discipline and good decisions. Suggestions like this are part of my commitment to help people be better homeowners when they buy, sell and all the years in between.

For more suggestions on managing your mortgage in the Denver area, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Piney Creek real estate specialists at 303-400-6060.

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Happy Holidays!

TeamCox Realtors wanted to share the City of Centennial’s Christmas card with you, including a special poem written by Centennial’s city clerk Brenda Madison.

Click Here to View the Card

Centennial, Colorado, is a great place to call home. Like the card says, the city is thriving, offering first-rate shopping opportunities, including SouthGlenn and IKEA. We agree wholeheartedly that there has “never been a better time to call Centennial home.”

For information on Centennial real estate, please contact TeamCox Realtors at 303-400-6060.

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Believe it or not, the holiday season is just around the corner. TeamCox Realtors has compiled our annual list of a few of the of the Denver metro area’s most popular holiday celebrations:

Denver

Grand Illumination Downtown Denver
November 25, 2011 – 6:00pm
Numerous multiple Downtown Denver locations will be lit up including the City and County of Denver, Larimer Square, Denver Pavilions, the 16th Street Mall and Union Station

LoDo District Inc.’s LoDo Aglow Window Design Contest
Local business owners, designers and art students will create holiday themed window art in LoDo
Winners will be announced the week of December 14

Cherry Creek Shopping Center
Ice Palace Grand Opening
November 11 through December 24
Grand Court at Cherry Creek Shopping Center

Parade of Lights
December 2-3, 2011
The Parade of Lights is a wonderful Denver tradition that dazzles everyone with beautiful floats and giant balloon characters.

Annual New Year’s Eve Fireworks in Downtown Denver
9:00pm & Midnight
16th Street Mall

Castle Rock

Castle Rock Outlets’ Tree Lighting
November 12, 2011 – 6:00pm
Santa and Matthew Moon

Castle Rock’s Annual Starlighting Ceremony
November 19, 2011
1:00pm-7:00pm
Wilcox Square

Turkey Rock Trot
November 24, 2011
9:30am – 12:30pm

Englewood

Tree Lighting
December 4, 2011 – 5:00pm
Englewood Civic Center

Littleton

Littleton Candlelight Walk and Treelighting
Downtown Littleton
November 25, 2011 – 5:00pm
Littleton will celebrate the holiday season with many festive activities, including lighting up the trees on Mainstreet, caroling and a visit from Santa
himself!

Aspen Grove
Bernese Mountain Dog Club of the Rockies
December 11, 2011
11:00am-2:30pm

Parker

Ye Olde Yuletide Bazaar
November 12, 2011 – 9:00am-4:00pm
Parker Fieldhouse

Town of Parker Tree Lighting
O’Brien Park in Downtown Parker
November 25, 2011 – 5:00pm

Christmas Carriage Parade
December 10, 2011 – 12:00-4:00pm (parade is at 2:00pm)

For more information regarding spending the holiday season in Denver, Colorado, or if you have events to add to this list, please contact TeamCox Realtors – your
Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060. Have a happy holiday season!

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Halloween is almost here and we know that our neighborhood children will be out to have fun.  Sometimes the fun can get in the way of the safety rules they have been taught.  If you are driving in Piney Creek, Woodgate, Highlands Ranch or any of the many Parker neighborhoods, please be especially diligent and watch for the little gremlins that will be running from house to house.  Let’s make it their night!  Here are more safety tips from our friends at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department.

Halloween Safety

Halloween is a fun time for kids, but it is also an important time to be extra vigilant for possible safety hazards so that your children have a fun and safe Holiday. Some tips to make Halloween safe include:

Costume safety

Choose a costume made of flame retardant material. Costumes should be short enough so that they don’t cause your child to trip and fall. For good visibility, add some reflective tape to the costume or bag he/she is using to carry candy or make/choose a costume made of bright material that is visible in the dark. Masks should fit securely and allow your child to see well and not hinder visibility. If using face paint, make sure it is non-toxic and hypoallergenic. Knives, swords and other props should be made of a flexible material, so that they don’t pose a hazard if fallen upon.

Trick-or-Treating safety

Children should be well supervised by an adult when trick-or-treating. Older children should trick-or-treat in large groups, in well known neighborhoods. Carry a flashlight. Never enter anyone’s house. Walk, don’t run. Stick to well lit houses in familiar neighborhoods only. Follow traffic signals and rules of the road. Drive slowly. Avoid taking shortcuts across backyards or alleys. Stick to the sidewalks of well lit streets.

Candy safety

Instruct your children to bring all candy home before eating it so that you can carefully inspect it for tampering. Children shouldn’t snack while they’re out trick-or-treating, before parents have a chance to inspect the goodies. To help prevent children from munching, give them a snack or light meal before they go — don’t send them out on an empty stomach. Tell children not to accept — and especially not to eat, anything that isn’t commercially wrapped. Throw out candy or treats that are homemade, unwrapped or if they appear to have been tampered with (pinholes in wrappers, torn wrappers, etc.). Parents of young children should remove any choking hazards such as gum, peanuts, hard candies or small toys. Wash all fresh fruit thoroughly, inspect it for holes, including small punctures, and cut it open before allowing children to eat it.

General safety tips

Homeowners should prepare their home for trick-or-treaters by removing obstacles from the front yard, restraining dogs and other animals, and lighting the house well. Provide treats that are individually wrapped candy or offer kids nonfood treats, such as stickers and erasers. Artificial lights and candles are a safer alternative to real candles with a flame that can pose a fire hazard. If going to an adult Halloween party, make sure that you don’t drink and drive. Use a designated driver if alcohol is being consumed.

To report a crime, call the

Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office at

(303)-795-4711 or 911 for emergencies.

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There is good news on the Colorado employment front! September was one of the best months for Colorado job growth in 42 months. The state added 34,000 jobs in September, compared to September of last year. The Colorado unemployment rate decreased in September to 8.3 percent, which places Colorado 24th among all the states. The national unemployment rate is unchanged at 9.1 percent.

Several major companies have recently announced plans to relocate employees to the Denver metro area. Arrow Electronics, a Fortune 140 company, announced last week that it is relocating its headquarters from Mellvile, New York to Centennial, where it already employs 1,000 people.

Aurora has been selected for General Electric’s PrimeStar Solar plant, which will employ 355 people. The state-of-the-art solar-panel manufacturing plant will jumpstart Colorado’s clean energy sector. The Coleman Company is also moving 25 executives from Wichita, Kansas to Golden.

All of this is great news for the Denver real estate market, which continues to rebound. For information on Centennial real estate, Aurora real estate, or Denver relocation, please contact TeamCox Realtors at 303-400-6060.

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Forbes Magazine recently released its list of the most expensive zip codes. Seven Colorado zip codes made the top 100 and three of them are in the Denver metro area (Boulder, Greenwood Village and Cherry Hills). A Castle Rock zip code (80108), encompassing the Castle Pines Village area, was also included in the top 500.

The list was compiled based on home prices from listing prices for both single-family homes and condominiums in more than 20,000 ZIP codes across the U.S. for June 2 to Sept. 2 of 2011.

Here is the list of Colorado zip codes that made the cut:

Snowmass (81654): $2,995,000 (#13)
Aspen (81611): $2,647,239 (#20)
Telluride (81435): $ 2,395,000 (#28)
Cherry Hills Village (80013): $2,195,000 (#37)
Snowmass Village (81615): $1,773,523 (#59) Vail (81657): $1,615,516 (#77)
Greenwood Village (80121): $1,495,000 (#92)
Boulder (80302): $865,611 (#290)
Castle Rock (80108): $688,509 (#472)

For information on Denver home prices, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

Where are the Most Expensive Homes in Colorado?

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It’s a common assumption that crime rates are lower in suburbia but is this really true?

Bonnie Cox of TeamCox Realtors was featured in the recent Denver Post article, “Safer in the suburbs but Denver metro area is narrowing up.” The article began with, “Bonnie Cox looks out the window of her house in the suburban Piney Creek area of Arapahoe County and sees peace, quiet, beauty and safety.”

We have always felt very safe in Piney Creek – a beautiful peaceful southeast suburb of Denver – but according to a new Brookings Institution study, the gap in crime rates between city and suburbs is narrowing in two-thirds of the nation’s 100 largest metro areas, including Denver. While we do feel safe in our suburban Denver neighborhood, we are still cautious. We keep a watchful eye on our neighborhood and have participated in our neighborhood watch group for many years.

According to the article, the study showed a 38 percent decline in urban violent crime in urban Denver, compared with a 28 percent drop in the Denver suburbs. The property-crime rate decreased 52 percent in the city and 49 percent in the suburbs. The violent-crime rate in Denver (measured in crimes per 100,000 population) has declined significantly since the mid-2000s.

For more information on Denver-area crime rates, or regarding Piney Creek real estate, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

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We are constantly being asked “where are the most expensive homes in Denver?”  The Business Journal (an online affiliate of the Denver Business Journal) recently posted an interesting analysis regarding the most expensive homes in Colorado. The report analyzed the median home value in communities across the country through 2009 data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

Three Colorado communities, including one metro Denver community, have median home values over the $1 million mark – Cherry Hills Village, Snowmass Village and Telluride. Communities were not ranked further, only put into categories.

There were two other Denver suburbs that made the list: Castle Pines Village (median home value of $901,000) and Greenwood Village (median home value of $713,000).

Another Business Journal report recently recognized Cherry Hills Village and Castle Pines Village as Colorado’s most affluent communities.

For information on home values across the Denver metro area, please contact TeamCox Realtors – Denver real estate specialists – at 303-400-6060.

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I have always been so impressed with Smoky Hill High School’s International Baccalaureate (IB) program.  It has been very rewarding to watch so many young people go through the program and move on to successful college programs and to amazing careers. As both a Realtor and a property owner in Piney Creek, I recognize that schools are the cornerstone to our community.

In the fall of 2010, Smoky Hill High School, in partnership with Laredo Middle School, became the first authorized IB Middle Years Program (MYP) in the Cherry Creek School District.

This young program seamlessly prepares middle school student to successfully transition into the demands of Smoky Hill’s rigorous IB training.

We are so fortunate to have Smoky Hill High School, Laredo Middle School and Indian Ridge Elementary School just blocks from our Piney Creek homes!  They are conveniently located within walking distance or a very short drive! Even during challenging times, these schools have never lost sight of what is truly  important in education – the students.

For information on Piney Creek real estate, or regarding life in Piney Creek, please contact TeamCox Realtors at 303-400-6060.

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Piney Creek Women’s League kicks off its annual membership drive on Wednesday, September 14.  The Piney Creek Women’s League is a non-profit social organization that works towards the betterment of the community of Piney Creek.  Membership is limited to ladies that live within Piney Creek area.

PCWL Fall Kick-Off

Wednesday, Sept. 14
7-9 p.m.
Piney Creek Clubhouse
Appetizers and Drinks Provided

Meet your Piney Creek neighbors and sign up for the various events and clubs!

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